We Have Lots of Books
I just got back from the mall/movies. I opened the bag from H&M (I am a stylish dresser, what can I say?) and took out three shirts and a pair of pants. I proceeded to remove the tags and discard them in the trash. Shirt number two did not survive the tag pulling. Instead of the little pop that you hear when that little plastic thingy breaks, I heard a rrrrrripppp that reminded me of the Hulk busting through his clothes. I hope to be able to return the shirt...
Anyway, the ripping of the shirt was the perfecting ending to a horrid day, which began with Stephanie finding out that she didn't get a job that she should have gotten. Which is why we went to the mall and the movies -- to get our minds off of it (I told some friends that Stephanie and I needed some time to reassess things and decide if life is worth it enough to continue or just throw in the towel all together -- jokingly, of course).
We saw Get Smart, which -- seriously -- turned out to be an incredibly funny movie and was completely worth the 15 dollars (we have a coupon for discounted movie tickets) for tickets and god only knows how much we spent on gas getting there. And we had dinner at Panera Bread, which is rarely a disappointing experience.
So, I guess the day really wasn't horrid after all. It was just overshadowed by the earlier horridness (is that a word? I'll find out when I spell check. edited to add: nope not a word. I'm leaving it anyway.).
Before coming home after the movie, we stopped off at the school playground that is a few blocks from our house. My plan was to go on the swings and maybe the slide and perhaps the monkey bars in hopes of helping with the healing process of finding-out-about-not-getting-a-job-that-you-really-want; how can you not have fun at a play ground?
As we pulled into the parking lot, a police car pulled around the corner. I giggled to myself, picturing being arrested for... oh, I don't know... being too old to play on a playground. The police officer was very nice and explained that there had been vandalism at the playground and they are strictly enforcing the school's playground closing time of 9pm. We explained that we wanted to go on the swings because it had been a bad day and that "no, we really don't intend to use, nor do we have, any spray paint or sharp things to carve our names into stuff." The officer said that he was going to be leaving and that if we went on the swings for a little while it wouldn't hurt. We thanked him and went to go on the swings, but they were wet with dew.
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Yesterday was Lena's open mic and some friends, teachers, that I work with came to see me play. Which was awesome! I haven't had people come to see me at the open mic in a long time. Plus, they told me that they had a great time and would come again -- which I hope they do.
I played Heart of the Matter by Don Henly and Phila St. Serenade.
I didn't interview anyone for Inside the Open Mic this week. I had to be door man because Stephanie, who normally works at the door, wasn't able to attend. Hopefully, next week I'll find a subject and have a new episode up soon after.
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While in Saratoga for open mic night, I stopped off at Borders to buy a book I had read about. (Yes, I read about a book. I am completely unable to buy a book without first reading reviews so that I'm certain I'm buying a good book. Like, I'm making some huge investment or something. I'm frustrated with myself for being this way... but what can ya do?).
As I walked up to the register to pay for my book, I prepared myself to say, "No, I do not want to join the rewards program, thanks" as I always do, because I have too many rewards program thingys that I belong to and my wallet is full enough of rewards program cards and I always forget to get them out when I buy something. Which only makes me mad later when I realize that I didn't use it and I could have saved money but I didn't.
Anyways, I put my book up on the register and smiled politely at the Borders person, who nicely asked me how I was doing. To which I replied, "fine thanks. And you?" "I'm fine." She stated, "do you have a Borders rewards card." "No." "Would you like to sign up for one? It's free... " (which is pretty much the spiel that they always give except this time she added) "... and you can save 30% on this book today." "No tha -- er, wait. 30%, did you say? Every time I buy a book?" She explained that the 30% was a special promotion, but that other coupons will come in my email.
Now, the book that I was buying was 16 dollars. Why 16? Because publishers are now making these paperback books that are a little larger than the typical paperback books that are 7 dollars... so they can make more money. Which is driving me insane, because I want to buy books, but I don't want to pay 16 dollars for them. And this particular book was not out in the smaller paperback yet, or maybe it never will be, who knows. And I wanted it...
So, I signed up for the Borders rewards card.
The Borders person asked for my phone number and quickly explained that the area code was not required because Borders does not use the number to call us; they only want it so that if I forget to bring my rewards card (or just flat out refuse to add it to my already-full-of-annoying-rewards-cards wallet) then I can still reap the rewards by telling them my phone number when I make a purchase. She went on to explain that some people are afraid that Borders will try to call them and she wanted to make sure that I didn't share that fear.
I said, "oh," and thoughtfully imagined what a phone call from Borders might sound like. I then said, "I can't really think of a reason as to why Borders would call me." She laughed. Then, I picked up an imaginary phone and said, "Hello, this is Borders... erm, we have lots of books." To which the the Borders person added, (at this point, she also held an imaginary phone) "and where have you been? We miss you." To which I added, "don't you like to read anymore? We really do have lots of books, you know."
And then some people got in line behind me. I was handed my change, thanked, and smiled at, and I went on my way.
I would have liked to continue the fake phone call from Borders, however. I felt the need to reiterate the fact that, "Indeed, we have lots of books."
And so, I have a Borders rewards card, the book that I wanted for less than what I otherwise would have had to pay, and a new slogan that Borders will certainly want to use in their next marketing campaign: "We have lots of books."
Anyway, the ripping of the shirt was the perfecting ending to a horrid day, which began with Stephanie finding out that she didn't get a job that she should have gotten. Which is why we went to the mall and the movies -- to get our minds off of it (I told some friends that Stephanie and I needed some time to reassess things and decide if life is worth it enough to continue or just throw in the towel all together -- jokingly, of course).
We saw Get Smart, which -- seriously -- turned out to be an incredibly funny movie and was completely worth the 15 dollars (we have a coupon for discounted movie tickets) for tickets and god only knows how much we spent on gas getting there. And we had dinner at Panera Bread, which is rarely a disappointing experience.
So, I guess the day really wasn't horrid after all. It was just overshadowed by the earlier horridness (is that a word? I'll find out when I spell check. edited to add: nope not a word. I'm leaving it anyway.).
Before coming home after the movie, we stopped off at the school playground that is a few blocks from our house. My plan was to go on the swings and maybe the slide and perhaps the monkey bars in hopes of helping with the healing process of finding-out-about-not-getting-a-job-that-you-really-want; how can you not have fun at a play ground?
As we pulled into the parking lot, a police car pulled around the corner. I giggled to myself, picturing being arrested for... oh, I don't know... being too old to play on a playground. The police officer was very nice and explained that there had been vandalism at the playground and they are strictly enforcing the school's playground closing time of 9pm. We explained that we wanted to go on the swings because it had been a bad day and that "no, we really don't intend to use, nor do we have, any spray paint or sharp things to carve our names into stuff." The officer said that he was going to be leaving and that if we went on the swings for a little while it wouldn't hurt. We thanked him and went to go on the swings, but they were wet with dew.
------
Yesterday was Lena's open mic and some friends, teachers, that I work with came to see me play. Which was awesome! I haven't had people come to see me at the open mic in a long time. Plus, they told me that they had a great time and would come again -- which I hope they do.
I played Heart of the Matter by Don Henly and Phila St. Serenade.
I didn't interview anyone for Inside the Open Mic this week. I had to be door man because Stephanie, who normally works at the door, wasn't able to attend. Hopefully, next week I'll find a subject and have a new episode up soon after.
-----
While in Saratoga for open mic night, I stopped off at Borders to buy a book I had read about. (Yes, I read about a book. I am completely unable to buy a book without first reading reviews so that I'm certain I'm buying a good book. Like, I'm making some huge investment or something. I'm frustrated with myself for being this way... but what can ya do?).
As I walked up to the register to pay for my book, I prepared myself to say, "No, I do not want to join the rewards program, thanks" as I always do, because I have too many rewards program thingys that I belong to and my wallet is full enough of rewards program cards and I always forget to get them out when I buy something. Which only makes me mad later when I realize that I didn't use it and I could have saved money but I didn't.
Anyways, I put my book up on the register and smiled politely at the Borders person, who nicely asked me how I was doing. To which I replied, "fine thanks. And you?" "I'm fine." She stated, "do you have a Borders rewards card." "No." "Would you like to sign up for one? It's free... " (which is pretty much the spiel that they always give except this time she added) "... and you can save 30% on this book today." "No tha -- er, wait. 30%, did you say? Every time I buy a book?" She explained that the 30% was a special promotion, but that other coupons will come in my email.
Now, the book that I was buying was 16 dollars. Why 16? Because publishers are now making these paperback books that are a little larger than the typical paperback books that are 7 dollars... so they can make more money. Which is driving me insane, because I want to buy books, but I don't want to pay 16 dollars for them. And this particular book was not out in the smaller paperback yet, or maybe it never will be, who knows. And I wanted it...
So, I signed up for the Borders rewards card.
The Borders person asked for my phone number and quickly explained that the area code was not required because Borders does not use the number to call us; they only want it so that if I forget to bring my rewards card (or just flat out refuse to add it to my already-full-of-annoying-rewards-cards wallet) then I can still reap the rewards by telling them my phone number when I make a purchase. She went on to explain that some people are afraid that Borders will try to call them and she wanted to make sure that I didn't share that fear.
I said, "oh," and thoughtfully imagined what a phone call from Borders might sound like. I then said, "I can't really think of a reason as to why Borders would call me." She laughed. Then, I picked up an imaginary phone and said, "Hello, this is Borders... erm, we have lots of books." To which the the Borders person added, (at this point, she also held an imaginary phone) "and where have you been? We miss you." To which I added, "don't you like to read anymore? We really do have lots of books, you know."
And then some people got in line behind me. I was handed my change, thanked, and smiled at, and I went on my way.
I would have liked to continue the fake phone call from Borders, however. I felt the need to reiterate the fact that, "Indeed, we have lots of books."
And so, I have a Borders rewards card, the book that I wanted for less than what I otherwise would have had to pay, and a new slogan that Borders will certainly want to use in their next marketing campaign: "We have lots of books."